Even if you look at light for a while, you’ll still possibly be prone to missing out on its nuances—such as how it flickers and catches a million hues in a fraction of a second. It’s an unending quest for most artists and some, like Dutch painter Rembrandt, managed to gain some sort of mastery on certain aspects of capturing the light in his portraits. Therefore, it is not much of a surprise that Paresh Maity, of his own admission, likes the way the 17th-century artist used light. For the Padma Shri awardee, “light has always been infinite”—both in terms of inspiration and influence, he tells The Established on the eve of the opening of the “biggest solo” of his illustrious career, one that spans over three decades.
Fifty-eight-year-old Maity’s preoccupation with light has continued ever since he was growing up in suburban Bengal. “Back in Tamluk during my childhood, I would always sit outside in the sun to watch it rise and set and observe its beautiful colours. Even now, when I go to Santiniketan or Benaras, I sit quietly sometimes and watch the light. Even when it is pitch dark, there is still some kind of transparent light,” he tells me. Aptly titled ‘Infinite Light,’ Maity’s retrospective spanning over three decades and around 450 of his works, examines, displays and records the artist’s work with light across mediums such as paintings, drawings, sculptures, films, installations and his never-seen-before ceramics, across New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru till March 2023. As you walk into Bikaner House where Art Alive is hosting the first leg of the exhibition, you are greeted by a life-sized brass sculpture of a jackfruit. If you thought this was the largest artwork in this exhibition, you feel humbled to walk in and find similar big-scale works, such as a bunch of oil-on-canvases from 2022. Maity, for this retrospective, has clearly not been daunted by scale and central to all of it is his preoccupation with light. “I have always believed that light is life and life is light. To see anything at all, you need light, which is why the title of this exhibition is ‘Infinite Light’,” says Maity, who only works during the day. “I like observing light, catching those changing colours—and yet, the light changes so quickly that certain shades remain elusive,” he shares.
But Maity’s practice is also rooted in the consistent inspiration he draws from nature. The artist, who is known for his vivid watercolour landscapes, does not fail to pay obeisance to nature and its unending inspiration as he says: “We cannot think and imagine anything beyond it. I try to get as close as I can to nature to capture its light, essence and feelings. I believe that the human figure is also part of nature, which is why, even my figurative art work is inspired by nature.” And rightly so—Maity is one of those rare artists who, despite his melding of styles from abstract to realist and even in the use of figures, retains a distinct signature of his own, and this could perhaps be attributed to his unshakable fascination with nature.
While some would say that a retrospective is only for reminiscing, Maity can counter that with his series of never-seen-before ceramics. His practice in this medium has only been private thus far. It started when he first went to Paris as a postgraduate student and was enamoured by Pablo Picasso’s ceramics. But Maity’s ceramics gained more ground—albeit privately—in the last two decades as he continued frequenting a friend’s ceramic studio in Maihar, Madhya Pradesh, “almost every winter”. “I stay there, paint there and work with ceramics at that centre. While working with ceramics for the last 20 years, I had this plan that I would exhibit these one day,” says Maity, whose dream has finally found fruition.
But the internationally-known artist's versatility has always held him in good stead. From consistently showing his art in the form of 83 solo exhibitions and taking on projects such as one of the longest paintings in the world in the form of the 850-foot mural for the Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, and to diving into the world of NFTs earlier this year, Maity is not known for being conservative towards taking up challenges. Similarly, one can say that there is absolutely nothing conservative in the scope of this multi-city, five-month-long exhibition that not only bears testimony to Maity’s terrific oeuvre but also to his ability to maintain and nurture relationships developed during his career.
“I HAVE ALWAYS BELIEVED THAT LIGHT IS LIFE AND LIFE IS LIGHT. TO SEE ANYTHING AT ALL, YOU NEED LIGHT, WHICH IS WHY THE EXHIBITION IS TITLED ‘INFINITE LIGHT’"Paresh Maity
While the show officially opens doors today in the capital at Bikaner House and is presented by Art Alive Gallery, it will travel to Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru with Art Musings, CIMA and Gallery Sumukha respectively. “While it was very important for me to take this exhibition beyond just one city, it was imperative for me to associate with these galleries who have been with me from the beginning of my career. I am a loyal person,” Maity explains.
Meanwhile, despite the longtime-coming retrospective, Maity is far from done with what he does best as he is careful to use the present-continuous while describing the ambition behind this exhibition. “In ‘Infinite Light,’ you will see the chronological development of an artist and how he has evolved in the last 32 years. The basic rules, however, remain the same—even in my sculptures with the lines and forms. You will see how things have been changing, and it’s a continuous process,” he says, as he prepares to offer the world a glimpse into the recesses of his artistic mind and the spirituality with which he approaches his practice.